Hardy plants for shade

[leeshis0019]

Alright, so I live in northern Georgia where Spring is mild, Summer is hot/humid, Fall is cold/humid and Winter is cold/dry.

I have two sulcatas that have an indoor enclosure and outdoor enclosure (separate). One is roughly 4 years old. The other is about 2 years old.

Their outdoor enclosures are all above ground. Where I live it's next to impossible to dig more than 1 foot so I had to keep everything above ground. The problem I'm having is with their hides. They each have 2 hides (1 main one and 1 "secondary" hide). The outdoor temps in the summer sit around 93 on average and the inside of their hide is maybe 86-87 (taken with a temperature gun). That isn't much cooler at all and I feel like it must be torture for them. I spray them with cool water every few hours for about 3-4 minutes and they actually come out of their hides and do things while being sprayed and stay out for a while before moving back in.


I'm curious if anyone knows of any plants that can withstand a cold winter and a hot summer. For the winter, it snows every now and again and if it doesn't melt quickly it basically turns into an inch or more of ice. I'd like a plant that can provide good shade around their hide (I'll get multiple plants if necessary) in order to cool it down. However, I'd love a plant that I don't need to replant every spring.

I currently have some sort of grassy plant (forget the name) that spreads out and propagates like crazy (1 of these became about 8 over the course of a spring). I'm going to let that propagate once more then start pulling out any extras as I don't want them to overtake the grassy areas. It's not a very tall plant though so it wouldn't work well around the hides. I need something that gets to around 2 feet tall and bushy. Or something taller that I can just prune to maintain at about 2 feet.

Any ideas?

 

[Yvonne G]

I just love hosta. It tends to die back in the winter, but comes up again in the spring. Another good one is hibiscus, hardy hibiscus and rose of sharon.

 

[JoesMum]

I just love hosta. It tends to die back in the winter, but comes up again in the spring. Another good one is hibiscus, hardy hibiscus and rose of sharon.

Between the slugs and Joe, hostas fail miserably in my garden. Everything eats them

 

[leeshis0019]

I guess I should have deleted this earlier as I saw some posts regarding this and read those afterwards.

I went to the store and got some hostas and have planted a couple and will plant the other two tomorrow. I wasn't sure about the hibiscus because I wanted something that would create a lot of shade, but not get eaten quickly. One of my tortoises ate about half a hosta leaf before deciding against it so hopefully he doesn't like it very much and will let it grow into shade for him.

I'm actually going to be moving him back inside for a week and re-seeding his area as he's trampled his grass and left only a few spots that are thick (and he wont eat them!!). I bought some great seeds that sprouted into 3-4" weeds and grasses within 5 days so I figured 1 week inside and he could go back to a buffet.

The smaller tortoise does much less trampling so I'm just going to give him the container grown grass until next summer.

 

[Amanda81]

I live in Tennessee, weather about the same as your, winters probably colder tho. I use hibiscus and banana trees in my outdoor enclosures for shade. They both get nice and tall so the torts don't eat them to their death, they reproduce themselves like crazy and u don't have to replant. I was told I would have to dig up my banana trees and dry them out and store in closet over winter but I didn't. I cut them all down about an inch or two from the ground after the first frost and they come back every spring, more and more. The hibiscus, in my experience is even easier care. I simple scratched up the dirt, threw down seeds(this was a couple years ago) and now I have 5' tall bushes that just keep popping up. I have little hibiscus plants coming up everywhere, I usually end up pulling probably 20-50 little plants that just randomly pop up out every year. I literally do nothing to care for these plants. The Sulcata munch on what they can reach and use the shade they provide. I also have a huge crepe mrytle (mrYtle crepe, I might have that backwards, not sure) but they don't mess with it, I have never seen em eat anything from it but it does provide a butt load of shade.

 

[Greg T]

I've had luck with some ferns that have made it through a few Houston winters (probably similar to your weather also). The torts love to hide under the ferns during the day and actually don't eat them!

 

[Len B]

Assuming you plan on keeping your sulcatas until adult size, I would suggest growing some plants that will withstand the abuse a large tortoise can inflect on just about anything in it's way. My first choice is mulberry, It can be cut back into any shape you want and kept short and bushy without harm to the plant. It only takes a few years for the trunk to become sturdy enough to stand up to a big tortoise, you will always have to keep an eye on the tree bark for scrapings. And if it ever gets out of hand and to big, mulberry trees are one of the easiest to kill, using full strength poison ivy killer brushed on the cut off trunk at ground level during the growing season. You could also use (male preferred) ginkgo trees in the same manner. They don't start growing as quick as mulberry but when they get going they grow fast usually about 10 or more years to get going. I have 2 that I started from seeds back in 2000 and kept in pots until 2009 when I planted them in the local turtle pen. I cut them back every fall to about 2 1/2 feet until last fall, I will still keep them short and trimmed mainly because I have no idea what sex they are, and if one or both are female it will be easier to remove them. They make sturdy shaded areas for the turtles. If you are sure what you get are male you can let them grow, They grow like an oak tree if left alone to grow normal. The last suggestions are Rose of Sharon and crepe myrtle, they both in time get tortoise strong trunks and can be kept to any size and shape you want. All of these are safe to have around tortoises. I make these suggestions from experience, my oldest sulcata is 19 and has shown me what can stand up to his wanting to get "there" wherever "there" may be.

 

[Tom]

Their outdoor enclosures are all above ground. Where I live it's next to impossible to dig more than 1 foot so I had to keep everything above ground. The problem I'm having is with their hides. They each have 2 hides (1 main one and 1 "secondary" hide). The outdoor temps in the summer sit around 93 on average and the inside of their hide is maybe 86-87 (taken with a temperature gun). That isn't much cooler at all and I feel like it must be torture for them.
Any ideas?

I don't know what plants will survive there, but I wanted to tell you that the temps you listed are just fine for sulcatas. Those hide temps are on the cool side even. Your sulcatas are just getting comfy at 93 and with 86 degree retreats, they are living the good life.